A Birth day

"I have no idea," Angus said. "I honestly haven't thought much about what any of the kids would call me. The older ones made their own choices about that, and I hadn't thought about Caprice or Diamond because they haven't really started to talk much yet, not more than a word or two. But--those two better learn to get along. That's my real concern at the moment. They're so jealous of one another that I honestly do wonder if they're going to both end up grounded for most of their lives. Hopefully, they end up in different Hogwarts houses. If they can be in different houses, they might survive school. 

"And, the other thing I've debated is on whether we need to change her name. Her name wasn't given to her out of love. It was given to her out of a desire to strike revenge and pain against you. Whether it had that effect or not, every child deserves to have a name given out of love and not for any other reason."

Ruby looked down at Dimond and smiled " I agree, and Dimond is a rock, not a girls name" she said then looked at Angus " do you have any suggestions?" she asked turning Dimond to face her so she could bounce on her legs giggling to her a she reached out to touch her hair then try and grab something behind her . Turning she saw Minos fluttering back and forth to amuse her. " hum Summer since that's what we're in or Lucy?" she suggested and chuckled as Dimond turned to Angus " Da Da" she said slowly making Ruby smile but it was now Caprice said the same ." we hear you Caprice" Ruby said.

"sis sis" Caprice said motioning to Dimond Ruby placed her down in the play pen so they could play together.

"we have time for that" she said smiling to Angus. Aria sighed and looked at Angus.

"you did a good thing and she'll grow up a decent person.

"I hope so. Oh, and there's another thing worth mentioning. Robert added a condition. Any association that Suzanne or Tom do, of any kind, with Priscilla or Dominic will be considered a violation of law and they will be arrested and jailed immediately. As I see, it, Tom got Elliot. Your mom got sentenced to an asylum, and Tom has to behave himself because if he doesn't, he'll be in jail. I don't think there was much of a win in it for him. He did have the balls to offer me long term foster care and a five million dollar pound sum if he could have Elliot. I made it clear I don't buy or sell children and that I didn't want his blood money. I don't need his money."

Angus looked over at Marcus, and he saw that Marcus looked uncomfortable.

"Headache?" Angus asked.

"Yes," Marcus said. "i'm starting to have some very momentary flashbacks. Nothing that makes much sense--mainly running down some streets in the dark for some reason."

"Well, that could have been anywhere," Angus said. "You've done a lot of that, not just by yourself but with us too since you've worked for Robert.  I'm not an expert, but I suggest you not try to overthink it. Let it come back on it's own. Maybe the headache has something to do with your memory trying to come back. In the meantime, though, I can get you some pain potion and maybe an ice pack. No point in suffering just to suffer." He got up, got Marcus some pain potion and an ice pack. "See if that takes the edge off for now. If it doesn't, we'll see if any of our healers are around. Minos might be able to help too."

There was the sound of apparating, and Angus went over and looked out the kitchen window.

"The kids are back from Robert's," he said. "Looks like they came back to go swimming in the pool. I think they have the right idea. It's a perfect day for it, and that huge pool is a really great way to exercise on a hot day."

Ruby listened to what else Angus had to say about the meeting and chuckled " well that's a short leash " she said and smile " but good , she needs help and he needs to mind his own " she said and chuckled when Angus spoke of Tom having no balls"oh that i agree with, think he had those removed years ago." she glanced at Marcus and saw Aria stand handing Angus the ice pack and potion she followed him and stood behind Marcus as Angus gave him it.

" I know another technique that might help" she said glancing at Ruby who sat with a smirk " no not that" she gently placing her fingers on his temples she slowly moved them in a slow gentel cercle before moving to his shoulders and massaging them gently she moved to the base of his neck gently running her fingers over the muscles she felt there slowly moving them she hoped he would relax under her touch.

Angus looked outside and saw Minos helping the Fae do something in the garden. He went outside, and Minos flew over to him.

"Marcus is having more headache. Is it possible that he's getting his memory back, do you think?" Angus asked him. Minos nodded. He flew inside and went to find the jar that he had given them earlier. He pointed out the jar to Angus. Angus got the idea. Minos believed it would help. Angus picked up the jar and Minos pointed to Angus that the cream inside needed to cover the entire bruise on Marcus's forehead. 

"Minos thinks the cream he made you might help," Angus said. "Shall we try it?"

"I don't care if you cut off my head and set it on a shelf til the headache goes away as long as it stops," Marcus said.

"Robert might disapprove of that," Angus laughed. He added the cream to Angus's forehead. It smelled very pleasant, like a light, clean blend of herbs and florals. Minos went over and took a closer look at the bruises, and he looked at Angus and nodded. "Minos believes your memory is trying to return," Angus said.

"Who's the dark haired woman with dark eyes?" Marcus asked him. "I just saw a flash of her, but I think we might have known each other."


"That's not much of a description."

"There was a picture of her in the album but there wasn't a name with it."

"Oh. Her. I did see that one. That's Ana Levski. Mother of your youngest daughter, Poppy. Evelyn is not her mother. You and Ana were quite an item for awhile, then you broke up, and she came back into your life for a very brief time later, and when she left, she left Poppy with you. You told me Ana was career driven and could never make any other sort of commitment.  That's another old relationship but its more recent than Evelyn, so perhaps your memory really is returning."

"Maybe," Marcus said.

"Did you see anything else?"

"Guns. Lots of guns."

"Oh, well, that makes sense too. It's part of our jobs. My guess is that you have a lot of them squirreled away."

"I do, I think. I just don't know where," Marcus replied.

"It'll come. Headache easing up?"

"Yes," Marcus said. He glanced up at Aria. "It's better. Thanks."

Aria watched as Angus put the salve on Marcus bump and smiled nodding to him as he said the headache was easing. She stepped back and took the salve from Angus placing the lid back on and returning it to the counter. " always here if you need me" she said smiling to him a she headed to the kitchen to make some coffee for herself and the others if they wanted it . She saw the guys walk in and smiled " enjoy your swim?" she asked " wet things in the washer please" she added with a chuckle as she looked to Ruby.

"And please do it quietly, your sisters need to nap" she said smiling hoping they would get what she had just told them that the two Dimond was now there sister to them as she saw Dimond pop her head up over the playpen side and giggle. Aria handed Angus a coffee without the fire-whisky and one to Marcus .she picked up two more and handed it to Ruby before she sat with her own drink smiling.

"What's for supper?" Sam asked.

"Oh. I don't know if I said," Angus said. "Kate told me this morning that Mickey and Trish fixed an old fashioned cowboy style barbeque in Colorado, and they have leftover barbeque spare ribs, barbeque chicken, and sides. Normally sides can be potato salad or macaroni salad, cole slaw, molasses baked beans, sometimes corn on the cob, sometimes homemade ice cream, always ice cold soda or beer. There's normally a ton of food, so if someone leaves hungry, that's their own fault. Kate said Mickey told her there was a ton of food left over, and there's enough for the main house and ours too. I think she was going to have Nicky or Zoe bring supper over for us tonight."

"There better be two tons then, cause we're starving," Victor said, as the boys headed upstairs to clean up, and the girls headed downstairs. Angus looked at Ruby. 

"Completely oblivious, aren't they?" Angus laughed. "We'll tell them maybe after their stomachs are filled. Right now, I think they think their growling stomachs are louder than any words we could say to them. I probably ought to get up and start to set up the sideboard because they could be here any time now with supper."

Ruby listened to the boys ask about food then Angus mentioned the BBQ left overs they were sending to them as they walked past she looked to Angus then burst out laughing " yep, totally" she said smiling as Dimond sat next to Caprice and placed her arm around her shoulder " awe that's cute , I wonder how long that will last she said and chuckled as did Aria.

"That's teens for you total food machines" she said still chuckling as she made several toys dance in front of Caprice and Dimond " I do agree however on the name change, she can't be called Dimond for the rest of her life, that sounds like a stripper name" she said and Ruby chuckled again and nodded.

"A stripper name?" Angus looked at her blankly. "You know I'm not going to be able to unhear that now. Thanks a lot." He sighed and got up, knowing he had to set up the sideboard. It took him longer with one hand. He set out trivets for hot dishes, set out plates, serving spoons and spatulas, silverware, napkins, and he set out wet washcloths. He knew they would not be familiar with that practice but if they were going to eat genuine barbeque, the washcloths would be needed. He set out glasses with ice and cans of soda and bottles of beer. As he was finishing, Nicky came with two large heavy baskets of food. Angus let him in, and Nicky finished setting up the sideboard.

There was an enormous platter of barbequed ribs that were slathered in a sweet and tangy barbeque sauce. There was a big platter of chicken pieces, both white and dark meat, covered in a smoky sauce, and a platter of barbeque brisket--Angus's own personal favorite. There was a dish of potato salad, a bowl of a cucumber onion salad, a dish of cole slaw, a platter of Mexican street corn on the cob, and then, for dessert, homemade lemon bars, with a great looking homemade lemon ice cream. 

"I hope you guys can eat enough food for about fifty people," Angus teased, "because there's a mountain of it here."

"Shall I ask Edward and Simone to come join you?" Nicky asked.

"They were planning on it but we should tell them it's here," Angus said.


"I'll tell them," Nicky said, heading next door. 

"Maybe we should fix our plates before the kids get here," Angus told them.

Aria laughed and nodded " exactly" she said and walked over to where he was setting out the food and plates and nodded " I think its just right for the kids and yes , lets, before it all goes" she added hearing the boys walk down the stairs. Quickly she made two plates and handed one to Ruby " here , best eat before its vacuumed up by the kids." she added and both chuckled she handed the second to Marcus then made her own plate before sitting next to Marcus at the table to eat.

"oh there's sodas in the fridge , we could have them with this they would go so well" ruby said feeding a bit of rib meat to Caprice then to Dimond both loved the sticky sweet barbeque flavour and licked their lips then their fingers before she gave them a little more to eat.

"I wonder how long till Marcus remembers what we had." she asked Ruby who shrugged as she ate her rib .

"give it time hes remembered a lot since coming back so couple more days maybe" Ruby said to her and she nodded " and Minos salve , well hes only just started using it today that might help too"